Ghostwriter Diaries 09

Okay. Here’s what not to do when you’re ghostwriting. When you find yourself lying awake at 4:05am, juggling characters, plots and the relentless tolling bell of the word count schedule, don’t get out of bed, crawl downstairs, make yourself a strong coffee, fire up the laptop and start writing at white heat. Yes, you might get an entire chapter written before setting out into a cold January morning on your way to your day job, and yes, you may feel a justifiable sense of pride at your undoubtedly impressive achievement. When the day starts drawing to a close, however, you’ll pay for it. You will yawn a lot. You will feel slightly fizzy from the extra coffees you’ve been downing through the day in order to keep Morpheus at bay. Your eyeballs will vibrate gently in protest at the vast number of pixels they’ve been forced to contemplate all day. Your mind, very gently, will break a little.